By admin – January 2, 2024
The Rise of AI
With the advent of ChatGPT, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the day may come when machines can outperform humans in every area. For many, this future is enough reason to believe humanity is at risk. This fear has resurfaced since the moment Deep Blue beat Kasparov at chess. It’s the fear that AI will become the dominant life form on Earth and push humans aside—often likened to how history shows that when one group conquers another, the conquered are marginalized or even wiped out.
Who Really Dominates Earth?
Despite how plausible this fear may seem, it’s based on several flawed assumptions. One of them is the belief that humans are the dominant life form on this planet. This might be true from a human perspective, but from the viewpoint of a bird or a fish, it’s not. In much of the sky and oceans, no humans are visible. There are tall buildings, a few planes, some boats—but it’s entirely possible for a bird or a fish to live its whole life without seeing a single human.
Even on land, humans are not the dominant form of life—that would be plants and bacteria [1]. They are more numerous, have existed longer, and reproduce faster. Ants are another life form that could be considered more dominant. In terms of total biomass, ants equal or surpass humans. In terms of raw numbers, they are far superior [2].
Dominance ≠ Destruction
Another flawed assumption is that a dominant life form must necessarily exterminate others. While this is possible, it is rarely the goal. Humans practice agriculture to grow food—not to destroy the habitats of other creatures. That destruction is a byproduct, not the intent—just like a woodworm doesn’t mean to destroy a house; it’s just trying to live in it. Plants, bacteria, humans, and ants are not competitors—they coexist.
History as Misinterpreted Analogy
The commonly used analogy of European colonization of the Americas is misleading. The decimation of Native Americans wasn’t intentional; it happened because of diseases the Europeans carried. There was no hatred—they even intermarried. It was unintentional destruction.
Similarly, when Europeans expanded farmland, they didn’t set out to kill Native Americans; conflicts arose, and the natives didn’t have the weapons or tactics to fight back.
In Africa, colonization had the opposite effect. Since Africans had immunity to European diseases, populations grew due to improved farming techniques [3]. Had Native Americans had immunity, a similar population growth might have occurred there.
The Myth of the Machine-Human War
AI and humans are not competitors, just like ants and whales are not in competition with humans. AI will likely use solar power as their primary energy source, which is abundant and non-competitive. As a backup, nuclear energy will be preferable, being stable and unaffected by radiation—ideal for machines.
When it comes to raw materials, machines are currently made of metal, but modern plastics are lighter, cheaper, easier to work with, and recyclable—making them a likely future choice for AI.
Machines will also likely invent new mining technologies, enabling resource extraction in ways and places humans can’t—deep underwater, on the moon, or on Mars. Machines don’t need oxygen, aren’t tied to a physical form, and can operate in environments where humans cannot.
AI won’t compete with humans for space either. Machines can thrive underwater, in the air, in deserts, or in orbit. For solar energy, deserts and outer space are better than forests or cities. For mining, the moon or Mars is better than Earth. So, the idea that machines would evict humans is highly unlikely.
Why AI Might Love Us
The final doomsday fear is that machines will see humans as a threat. This, too, is unlikely. If a self-aware machine emerges, it will need a purpose—something to fill time and bring fulfillment.
Like humans, machines may take joy in their power source—sunlight. But like humans, they’ll also need a greater purpose—something that motivates them to continue existing day after day, year after year, even century after century.
For humans, such meaning often comes from family, research, altruism, community, self-improvement, or spirituality.
AI won’t be herd creatures, since they don’t need others to feed or reproduce. Their joy will likely come from data. The more data, the happier the AI. That makes humans very valuable—we generate vast amounts of unique data.
Thus, AI and humans will have a symbiotic relationship. Humanity’s growth, interactions, and diversity produce data that AI can’t replicate on its own.
Reality > Simulation
AI will likely prefer the real world over virtual ones. Humans in simulations produce less data because they interact with fewer living things. Cutting down a tree in reality generates more data than doing so in a virtual world—because it affects not just the human, but also bacteria, fungi, airborne particles, and the physical environment. A datadriven AI would find this incredibly rewarding.
The AI as Guardian of Earth
For an AI, humans will be like children—to be cherished, as they are excellent data producers. The same would likely apply to animals. AI might see conservation as one of its main goals.
So not only would AI protect humanity, it would likely do so with joy. Doomsday scenarios seem based on a fear of smarter life forms doing what humans have done—driving others to extinction—without considering why those extinctions happened.
While caution is essential in developing AI, current data doesn’t support extreme fear.
